Salvation during the Trib and After
Dear sister,
I am sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner. The last two days have been terrible for this old man. We have had bitter cold and frozen pipes. I think I told you that I am Assistant Manger here in this mobile home park that I live in, and I have had to be out in this bitter cold and snow nearly all day each of the last two days digging up and unthawing, or replacing, water lines. It has just about got to me. I am just praying there won't be anymore today. If I live until February 19th I will be 74 years old. I am just too old for this type of work any longer, but it keeps the wolf away from the door and I just thank God for the work. He knows what He is doing with my life so I just go home each night and thank Him for the health and strength He gave me to get through the day. Anyway, I haven't been able to touch the computer for the last two days. Anyway, let's get to your questions.
Sister, a lot of people just don't seriously "think" about the situtation when they read or study Revelation and related Scriptures.
When the Holy Spirit is "taken out of the way" of the man of sin [2 Thessalonians 2:7] at the time of the rapture, that doesn't mean that He is "taken out of the world." Most people try to read that into that Scripture, but that is not what the Scripture says. The Holy Spirit indwells the body of the beleiver, but He is not limited to the body of the believer. God forbid! Just because believers are taken out of the world at the rapture, doesn't mean that the whole Holy Spirit has to be taken out of the world. So after the rapture has occurred and those saved in this dispensation are removed, the Holy Spirit will still be here saving those who will respond to the gospel. Read Joel 2:28 again. Doesn't this passage clearly say "all flesh"? Today the pouring out of the Holy Spirit is likewise poured out upon all flesh but it is effective only in those who believe, Acts 2:18. During the Trib the Holy Spirit will be poured out upon "all flesh" to the extent that every living human being will be convicted by the Holy Spirit to the extent that they will know that God is, and that Jesus Christ is His Son and Savior. There will be no excuse for any person rejecting Christ during the Trib. There is going to be a great blood washed multitude that will turn to Christ in just 3 1/2 years according to Revelation 7. But all those saved will be martyred, Revelation 6:7-11.
Then humanity comes to the middle of the Trib. At that time the Antichrist will make a decree [law] requiring every living human being to receive the mark. However, it is plain that every living human being will not receive that mark. Does every person obey every law today? Of course not! Well every person on earth will sure not obey that law. Even many lost people will refuse to obey it and receive the mark, and choose rather to flee for their lives to the mountains, to the caves, to any place that appears to offer them a measure of safety. You should notice that at the same the Antichrist requires the mark, the angels of God are flying through the midst of heaven warning people on earth not to take the mark, Revelation 13:16-17; 14:6-11.
Many will take the mark and be for ever damned, but many others won't take it. Those who refuse to take that mark will flee for their lives to any place on earth where they think they can hide and find anything to eat to preserve their lives. That is just one reason why many of the Jews flee to Petra. They know that God's law forbids them from making any mark upon their body, Leviticus 19:28.
Then comes the end of the Trib. All the survivors on earth see the Lord coming out of the heavens back towards the earth, Matthew 24:29-30; Revelation 1:7. The Lord's return to the earth will not be an instantaneous thing like the rapture was, but rather it will occur slow enough that every person left on earth will be able to see Him coming in the clouds. Talk about impressive! The Lord accompanied by all His saints and all the Holy angels. What a great heavenly procession will unfold before the eyes of those still alive upon the earth at that time.
At that time many of those Gentiles who refused to take the mark and are hidden in various places all over the earth will believe and call upon the Lord for salvation. They will be the "sheep" Gentiles spoken about in Matthew 25:31-46 and they will enter the glorious Millennial Kingdom in their natural flesh and blood bodies.
But many other surviving Gentiles still won't repent and receive the Lord even when they see Him coming in the clouds. They will be the "goat" Gentiles in Matthew 25 who will be cast "into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," Matthew 25:41.
At that same time all of the surviving Jews [the one-third Jewish remnant, Zechariah 13:8-9] will turn to the Lord with their whole heart and be saved, Matthew 24:13; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:8-12. There will never again be a lost Jew, for at that same time the Lord will remove the sin nature from the blood stream of the Jewish people, Joel 3:20-21. And of course they will enter the promised Millennial Kingdom in their natural bodies to reproduce generation after generation for ever, Isaiah 60:21-22; 9:6-7. Notice in this latter passage that it plainly states, "Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end....." The only way this could be possible is for there to continue to be flesh and blood people in natural bodies for ever, just as God intended when He created Adam and Eve in flesh and blood bodies capable of reproducing.
While the sin nature will be totally removed from the believing flesh and blood Jewish remnant at the end of the Tribulation, it will not be removed from the redeemed flesh and blood Gentiles until all of redeemed humanity enters the eternal age following the Millennium in Revelation 21:1-5; 1 Corinthians 15:25-28.
Sister, this should answer your questions and give you a lot of Scriptural information to study. When you have more questions, just write me again. By God's grace, and only by His grace, will I be able to answer them. I think of the words of Joseph as he stood before Pharaoh, "It is not in me: God shall give Pharoah an answer of peace," Genesis 41:16. And Daniel when he stood before Nebuchadnezzar, "But there is a God in Heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days....." Sister, I am neither a Joseph nor a Daniel, but I serve the same God, and I just praise and thank Him daily for giving me insight into His wonderful prophetic Word. If I don't know the answer to some of your questions, I will just tell you I don't know. I'm not going to make up some silly answer and fake it like some do to today when they don't really know the answer. A dose of true humility would go a long ways today for all of God's people.
Thank you for writing and God bless you. Pray for me.
Pastor F. M. Riley
----- Original Message ----
From: rachel <cloudsbenjamin@suddenlink.net>
To: Francis Riley <fmrglbd5@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2008 6:39:53 AM
Subject: "FIRST IN FLIGHT"
Bro Riley: Talking to you over the phone for four hours seems like just four minutes. I'm so happy talking about the only thing in life that concerns me and you have so many answers. And I can see that you are emotional about knowing you'll soon see His face as am I also. We are passionate but content in our suffering awaiting His appearing.I think of the "inner circle" who were so anxious to rule with him, remember on the Mount of Transfiguration, and Jesus said don't worry you'll drink the cup that I drink ( and seemingly be qualified to do what they ultimately wanted to do), but Jesus even then reminded them that he couldn't assure them they'd reign with him -- it was for the Father to decide -- but He did assure them, don't worry, if you want so much to be like me, YOU'LL DEFINITELY HAVE YOUR CHANCE FOR WHAT YOU'RE ASKING AND YOU WILL FULFILL THE PLAN FOR YOU -- YOU WON'T GO UNSATISFIED -- and I think about how that plan involved the suffering that was ahead for that inner circle who wanted so much to be like Him and rule and reign with him. Truly Paul said later "IF (a contingency) we suffer, we will reign with Him." So "the trial of our faith" is unto praise and glory to the Lord Paul reminds us "being more precious than gold" -- yet even when we read it, we often forget the extreme trials of the early Christians. But here at the end of the age, if we too are tried in the fire until He comes, we can only praise His Name. We'll understand later (soon) how it was His plan and why, amen? (When Jesus said it was finally only for Father to give, I wonder if he was withholding the promise on the basis that the Father would wait to see who would endure to the end! (the other side of predestination -- the inexplicable free will that operates inside the sovereignty of God!)I know you'll be getting lots of e-mails since your recent post. People love mathmatics! And I'm SO glad you shared that about the denarius. I don't know why that comforted me so much, but it's like knowing that the Lord knows we're all here feeling like we couldn't and shouldn't be here, and we have the assurance that He understands and will repay us for living in this time.I have a perhaps JEWEL I want to share. When I called North Carolina when I checked on the license tag, I found out something I didn't know before. Maybe you do know it, but anyway, their tag is all in red and the logo on it is "FIRST IN FLIGHT." Now I don't know if that's because some famous aviator is there -- oh, I guess it's the Wright brothers. Anyway I JUST WONDER IF THE PTB (POWERS THAT BE) CHOSE NORTH CAROLINA TO PUT THE FIRST NORTH AMERICAN UNION LABEL ON BECAUSE THEY HAVE THAT SLOGAN "FIRST IN FLIGHT'"-- THAT IS MAYBE THE PTB IS TRYING TO USE THEM AS THE "FIRST IN THE FLIGHT" OF THE ANNOUNCMENT OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER 10 WORLD DIVISIONS. ALSO PTB TRYING TO IMITATE THE FLIGHT OF THE CHRISTIANS IN THE RAPTURE. Just a thought. THE WORLD BELOW CAN TRY TO SOAR TO IT'S PRESCRIBED "HEIGHTS" IF IT WANTS TO, BUT WE KNOW WHAT THE REAL FLIGHT WILL BE, AMEN? THE FLIGHT TO THE ARMS OF THE LORD JESUS -- IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AIR! WE'LL BE THERE!I had a chance to use my new speel, that is as I refined it when we talked, adding a couple of things, the Amerio money, etc., and after I delivered it (I was in the car in the back seat) there was dead silence. Then he (the driver) said "they'd have to prove to me that George Bush as already signed us in." Then I added the part about the NC driver's licenses, which I hadn't mentioned before, and after that there WAS TOTAL DEAD SILENCE AND IT REMAINED THAT WAY. You'd think they'd ask more huh"? No, they're afraid you'll tell them. When I mentioned the global elite, he just repeated "the global elite" like what in the world is that, but HE NEVER ASKED FOR AN EXPLANATION! I just said "that's the powers that rule the world" AND HE DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW MORE! I think people know it's all about to blow up and they just don't want to know when.Thanks for the four hours. It's just wonderful to be filled with Bible. It helps so much -- of course. I love your new mathmatical revelation and I know you'll get some interesting answers.Oh, I didn't want to make this a long letter, but I do have to ask one thing. Just answer when you have the time. I know the seven year trib period is when the Lord resumes dealings with Israel. And I knew the church would have to be gone for that, but the fact that people are still saved then....well....I guess I understand that they could be saved in that period.....but I've forgotten what happens to the ones who aren't martyred. They don't go on into the kingdom do they?
Maranatha,RachelPS I wonder if you've ever posted that the North Carolina licenses have that written in the corner. I think a lot of people would appreciate knowing that and I think they'd use it in their witnessing. It stops people dead in their tracks when you use it. Also have you ever posted that the Ameri-whatever it is (not sure the exact wording and spelling of that -- the Amero dollar or whatever -- have you posted that it is already printed and ready for distribution. In fact have you ever reminded the doves of the September 4th Lou Dobbs broadcast? I did see it on part of a video that came in on Doves the other day, showing significant things that have recently happened. It really went by fast though. I don't think it would catch anyones attention if they didn't already know it.